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BULLETIN 301, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



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Fig. 7.— Ground plan of a double-walled den. 



recently adopted by several fox owners is shown in figure 16. It has 

 a concrete foundation 4 feet deep, 9 inches thick at the bottom, and 

 6 inches thick at the top, and projects slightly aboveground. In 

 this are embedded posts of 1-inch galvanized-iron pipe. Tie-rails 

 of f-inch pipe connect these posts at the 

 top and also just above the foundation. 

 Wire netting for fox-yard fences has 

 been in use from the beginning. It 

 allows free circulation of air and per- 

 mits the animals to take an active in- 

 terest in their surroundings and in one 

 another. The netting ordinarily used 

 is like that for poultry 

 runs, except that the 

 wire is heavier. It 

 maybe of 2-inch mesh 

 in 14, 15, and 16 

 gauge. The lower part of a fence should be made of the heaviest 

 wire obtainable, the lighter grades being used for the middle and upper 

 parts. As very young foxes are likely to become entangled in 2-inch 

 netting or even to go through it, many fox breeders use only 1^-inch 

 mesh. Those having 2-inch mesh usually reinforce it from 6 inches 



above the surface of the ground to 6 

 inches below it with boards or a strip 

 of 1-inch netting. 



The disposition of foxes to take an 

 adversary at a disadvantage has led 

 to serious injuries when adjoining 

 yards were separated by only a single 

 partition of coarse netting. In a 

 number of instances a climbing animal 

 has had its foot seized, pulled through 

 the fence, and held by the occupant 

 of the next yard until its frantic strug- 

 gles to escape resulted in a badly man- 

 gled leg. Such accidents can be 

 avoided by making double-walled par- 

 titions, the walls separated by at least 

 4 inches, or single-walled partitions of 1-inch netting or of boards. 

 The necessity of erecting double partitions is overcome, however, by 

 use of the plan illustrated in figure 14. 



The height of a fence depends somewhat upon the depth of the 

 snowfall. In Maine and the Maritime Provinces the usual height is 

 9 or 10 feet, while in Labrador it is 12 feet. To prevent foxes from 



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Fig. 8.- 



-Vertical cross section of double- 

 walled den. 



